What Happens In An Exam For Life Insurance?

One of the main portions of the life insurance application is the medical exam. It one of the pivotal points which will determine your premium size and your chances of being accepted/rejected.

This post is going to look at the different steps of the medical exam and how it’s going to impact your life insurance rates. We will also look at some of the ways you can get lower rates and save money on your life insurance protection.

The Basics Of A Medical Exam For Life Insurance

The purpose of the medical exam is to give the insurance company an idea of how much risk you are for life insurance protection. The more risk you are, the more the company will charge you for insurance coverage.

After you’ve completed the initial work for your life insurance plan, the company is going to schedule for a paramedic to come to your home to conduct a medical exam. In most cases, the paramedic or registered nurse will give you several options for when you want to have the exam. They can also give you an estimate of how long the exam is going to take. In most cases, it won’t take more than 30 minutes to finish.

The Health Questionnaire

The longest portion of the medical exam is the health questions the company is going to ask. The exam will start by the nurse or paramedic asking your dozens and dozens of questions about your current health, your lifestyle habits, and your family history.

For this part, be prepared to answer yes or no to close to a hundred questions. They will ask about a variety of different health conditions you may have. They are also going to ask about any medications you take and the dosages. To make the process easier, have the prescription bottles with you.

Standard Health Measurements

After the health questions, the paramedic or nurse is going to take some basic measurements. This involves getting your height and weight. They are going to use these numbers for their weight chart. Every company has a different weight chart they use, but they use these numbers to decide if you’re in healthy weight range or considered overweight.

Afterwards, the nurse will take some vital signs. This will include your heart rate and your blood pressure. Both of these are important indicators of your overall health. If you have high blood pressure or fast heart rate, it could be a sign of more severe health complications, which is going to translate into higher insurance premiums.

The last part of the medical exam is the blood sample and the urine sample. They will collect these and send them off to look for any health problems which weren’t on the health questionnaire or you didn’t disclose.

This also will show any traces of tobacco you might have used in the past several months.

If you’re an older applicant (typically over the age of 50), the insurance company might require an EKG during the medical exam. This will show any health problems which might not have shown up in your medical records.

Tips for Passing Your Health Exam

There are a couple of things you should do to ensure you get the best results possible. Doing a few couple things leading up to your exam could save you hundreds of dollars every year.

One thing you should do is avoid any caffeine the day of the medical exam. While you might enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, the extra dose of caffeine is going to raise your heart rate and could raise your blood pressure. Both of these could lead to worse results from the exam, and it’s going to translate into more expensive premiums.

If you have the choice, you should schedule the appointment first thing in the morning. When you take the exam, you will need to fast for six to eight hours before the exam. If you have the exam in the middle of the day, not only will you have to skip breakfast, but it can lead to worse results.

Even having a bowl of oatmeal or a piece of fruit could cause your glucose levels to go through the roof.

Getting Affordable Life Insurance

After you’ve taken the exam, they will review the results and run them through their medical underwriting. Every company has different underwriting and rating systems they are going to use. This means you could get two drastically different rates depending on which company you choose. For example, if you’re a high-risk applicant with type 2 diabetes, some companies are going to charge you drastically more than a company who has experience working with applicants with diabetes.

If you want to save money, you need to find a company who has the lowest premiums.

You could spend hours (over several days) on the phone talking to companies.

Sure, you can waste your precious time, or you can let us save you hours. Our agents have the ability to show you rates from dozens of companies all at once.

Still have questions? Don’t worry, we are here to help. Let us know those questions and we will answer for them.

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